
					Rod R. Blagojevich, Governor

MCU Services

MCU Reservations

The ICN IP (H.323) Video service includes access to a Multi-point Control Unit (MCU) or bridge. MCUs provide videoconferences between 3 or more participant sites. The ICN MCU will support 21 site connections at 384 Kbps simultaneously. The ICN MCU will transparently accommodate sites that use different video transmit speeds and audio algorithms.

Initially the service offers access to preset conference "meeting rooms" with reservation of these MCU resources accomplished via the web . Standard and Private meeting room services will be offered and are described below. The MCU offers two types of screen layouts. Voice Activated (VA) and Continuous Presence (CP). In the Voice activated mode you will see one person at a time determined by who is talking at the moment. Continuous Presence refers to fixed screen layouts that display multiple sites simultaneously. Layout options are described in the table below:

Conference Type	Distant Site Appearance	Service Prefix	Misc.
Voice Activated 384 Kbps		1123	Display of distant site is determined by who is speaking or last site to speak if you are speaking.
Continuous Presence Four Participants (Four sites displayed) 384 Kbps		1124	More than 4 sites may join depending on resources available. Sites above 4 are displayed based on who is speaking.
Continuous Presence Seven Participants (Seven sites displayed) 384 Kbps		1127	More than 7 sites may join depending on resources available. Sites above 7 are displayed based on who is speaking.

Standard Meeting Room Service:

This service allows endpoints to call into conference "meeting rooms". Privacy is provided by unique conference codes determined by the conference initiator. H.320 sites that support two-part extension dialing can join the conference by dialing a Gateway IVR telephone number and then dialing or out-pulsing the service prefix and conference ID number at the IVR prompt.

To start a conference

Choose a conferencing service to be used with this conference. The available services and their prefixes are shown in the table above.
Devise a unique Conference ID number. The Conference ID number should consist of your ICN Site ID and 6 additional digits of your choice. The first time you dial the service prefix plus Conference ID number, the MCU sets the number following the service prefix as the Conference ID number.
Notify all conference participants of the service prefix and Conference ID number. If some users join the conference via gateways (H.320/ISDN users), they also need to know a gateway phone number, 312-338-9500. (Their system must support two-part extension dialing.)
Start a conference by dialing the following: <Service prefix>+<Conference ID number>. For example, 11245555019238 is composed of service prefix (1124) and the unique Conference ID number you devised (site ID plus 6 digits of your choice). The conference is established as soon as the MCU accepts the call. Other participants join by dialing the same way (<Service prefix>+<Conference ID number>) or via the gateway.

Private MCU Meeting Room with fixed ISDN access and administrator control:

This service allows endpoints to call into conference "meeting rooms" or be invited via an administrator with access to conference control. Inbound access by any H.320/ISDN based system can be accomplished via dialing a 10-digit telephone number associated with your specific conference/s. IP endpoints can use this form of dialing as well if desired. (This eliminates the requirement for support of two-part extension dialing by H.320/ISDN endpoints.) This service will be established as part of the service application process. The administrator will gain access to conference control via a web interface and can invite participants (call outbound to add them to conferences) and control screen layouts and other functions.

Note: Outbound calls to ISDN off-net sites are billable at per minute/per channel rates of $.06 instate and $.19 out-of-state.

Future offerings:

The ICN is evaluating reservation and scheduling software and plans to offer access to this service in fiscal year 2004. This will provide a central source to reserve network resources, schedule, initiate and control multi-point conferences.

A fee-based managed conference service is also being considered and may be offered based on constituent interest.